Victim’s mother tells of rocky relationship
AP | AP
In spite of the fact that local rancher Kathleen “Kathy” Denson is accused of killing her son, Mary Jo Boyd on Friday portrayed Denson as a generous woman who cared for and loved Gerald “Cody” Boyd.
In her testimony at the Eagle County Justice Center, Mary Jo Boyd described her son as a loving son and father, an honest man who liked guns and motorcycles, and who also took anti-depressants. She also said her son loved Denson, but was confused about their relationship and was torn between her and Monica Seebacher, also known as Monique, a friend and manager at one of Denson’s fur stores in Vail.
“Kathy and Cody had a rocky relationship,” Mary Jo Boyd testified during the fifth day of Denson’s murder trial. “Monique came between them. He said he wanted to work things out with Kathy, but that she hadn’t treated him well.
“I wanted them back together,” she said.
Denson, 46, owner of the 77-acre Draggin’ A Ranch between Eagle and Gypsum as well as Designer Furs in Vail, is charged with the second-degree murder of Cody Boyd. Cody Boyd, 45, died of a black powder-pistol shotgun wound on June 27, 2002, at Denson’s ranch. In a 911 tape played during the trial, Denson said she had been holding the pistol.
Support Local Journalism
Prosecutors said Denson shot her unarmed former lover because she was jealous. At the time of the shooting, Cody Boyd had moved in with Seebacher.
But the defense has said Cody Boyd and Seebacher conspired to steal from Denson and that she had declined to give Boyd more money.
According to Denson’s attorney, Scott Robinson, Cody Boyd told Denson that if she didn’t pay him $100,000, he would kill her son.
“Monique wanted everything Kathy had.”
One month before the shooting, Denson paid Cody Boyd $100,000. With part of that money he bought a $26,000 Harley Davidson motorcycle and a red Corvette for $15,000 – a car that apparently ended up in Seebacher’s hands.
“Monique wanted everything Kathy had,” Mary Jo Boyd said. “She called me once and asked about our family finances. I told her I had nothing but my $650 social security.”
Mary Jo Boyd, who lives in Illinois, said her son had moved out of Denson’s house because she had told him she didn’t love him and that she had slept with other men.
“Kathy told me she gave him the money because she had hurt him and she was trying to make it up to him,” Mary Jo Boyd testified. “Kathy called me one day and said she didn’t realize how much she cared about him until he moved out. She was trying to propose to him to marry her, but Monique was always in the middle.”
In May, more than a month before the shooting, Denson, Cody Boyd and Seebacher went together to Cancun, Mexico. Mary Jo Boyd said her son called her one midnight from Cancun when he was very drunk.
“He said he was a terrible person and that he was a hit man,” Mary Jo Boyd said. “I didn’t believe him. It came out of the tequila bottle. He also hadn’t been taking his anti-depressant drugs.”
Evidence also points out that Denson and Cody Boyd consumed cocaine together. A few days before her son was shot, Mary Jo Boyd said her son called her and said, “I guess I have to go back to the ranch. Kathy bought more dope.”
Restraining order
In cross examination, Mary Jo Boyd said her son had never been violent to any of his three former wives. With one of his ex-wives, Debra Griffith, he had a daughter.
But Robinson pulled out a copy of a restraining order against Cody Boyd that Griffith filed in New Mexico in June, 2001.
“In it she says he (Boyd) had threatened to kill her and he was stalking her … in Santa Fe,” Robinson told Mary Jo Boyd and the jury.
Asked by Robinson whether if days before Cody Boyd was shot, Kathy told her she didn’t want him on her ranch, Mary Jo Boyd said, “Yes.”
“It seemed to me Monique could sway him, she was the kind of person who knows how to get what she wants,” Mary Jo Boyd said.
Cody Boyd went back to the ranch because he was afraid Denson would overdose, Mary Jo Boyd testified.
“Monique was a gold digger,” Mary Jo Boyd said. “Cody told me Monique said, “Let’s put Kathy in a rehabilitation center in California and we take over the shops.'”
The defense maintains Denson acted in self defense, but the prosecution says the room where Boyd was shot showed no sign of struggle. Forensic experts and police investigators found no evidence of struggle on Denson’s or Boyd’s bodies.
Veronica Whitney can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 454, or at vwhitney@vaildaily.com.
